Amgen plans new way to enter weight-loss drug market | Wilnesh News

Amgen taking new method The company is trying to stand out in a crowded field where drugmakers are vying to develop the next blockbuster weight-loss drug.

This biotech company is testing a Injection treatment Unlike existing injections, it could help people lose weight Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly and Company, and other obesity drugs in development. Amgen’s treatment, MariTide, also appears to help patients maintain weight after they stop taking the drug.

The drugmaker is also testing taking its drug once a month or even less frequently, which could offer more convenience than once-a-week medications on the market.

It’s too early to tell how competitive Amgen will be in the emerging field of weight-loss drugs, which so far has been dominated by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.

Some analysts expect the market may be worth $100 billion By the end of the century, there may be room for new competitors to enter.Goldman Sachs also project By 2028, 10 million to 70 million Americans will be taking diet pills.

Existing data on Amgen’s injectable drug is promising, but it also comes from a small, early-stage Clinical Trials.The Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based company is also developing oral drugs and other treatments obesity, but no details about them were revealed.

Investors and health experts may get a better idea of ​​Amgen’s prospects later this year: The drugmaker is expected to release preliminary data from an ongoing mid-stage trial of MariTide, as well as Phase 1 data from its weight-loss drug.

It’s unclear whether Amgen’s treatment will be cheaper than existing weight-loss drugs, which cost about $1,000 a month.

Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound have pioneered a new class of obesity treatments that have attracted continued demand from patients and investors despite being expensive and with limited insurance coverage. interest.

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also struggled to provide adequate supplies of treatments, which could give other companies a chance to gain market share.

Amgen’s drugs provide new tricks About losing weight.

Much like Wegovy and Zepbound, part of Amgen’s treatment activates a gut hormone receptor called GLP-1 to help regulate appetite in humans.

But while Zepbound activates a second hormone receptor called GIP, Amgen’s drug blocks it. Wegovy does not target GIP, which suppresses appetite like GLP-1 but may also improve the way the body breaks down sugar and fat.

Company officials said Amgen’s decision to inhibit rather than enhance GIP activity was based on genetic research showing that blocking the receptor is associated with reduced fat mass and body weight.

This seems to contradict how Zepbound works. Eli Lilly’s approach has proven successful: In a late-stage trial, the treatment helped obese patients lose 22.5% of their body weight after 72 weeks.

But Amgen’s MartiTide was also effective in a small, early-stage study.

Patients who received the highest monthly dose of Amgen’s drug (420 mg) lost an average of 14.5% of their body weight in just 12 weeks, according to data from d.Phase 1 trial of ata It was published last month in the journal Nature Metabolism.

Researchers have a broader debate about why blocking and activating GIP are both effective at promoting weight loss.

one theory Repeated activation of GIP receptors, as Zepbound does, ultimately causes the body to “self-regulate” and ensure there isn’t too much GIP activity, says Dr. Carolyn AppovianDirector, Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

This overall reduces GIP activity and is thought to essentially mimic the effect Amgen’s drug achieves when it blocks GIP receptors. But Appovian warned that “none of this is proven” and more data is needed.

“We think meaningful weight loss is already 5%. If you take Amgen’s drug and you lose 14.5% of your body weight, and you still lose 11.2% of your body weight a few months after you stop the drug, that’s significant.” Dr. Holly LoftonDirector of the Weight Management Program at NYU Langone Health and obesity medicine physician. But she noted the treatment needs to be studied in larger populations.

The sustained weight loss in the Amgen study appears to be in stark contrast to results from the Zepbound and Wegovy clinical trials. Patients in these studies found that they regained weight more quickly after stopping the injections.

Amgen’s MariTide “has the advantage that it lasts longer. Even if you give a high dose, you’re still exposed to the drug in your body for a month or two, so that’s a clear indication that you’re not taking it every week Once,” analyst William Blair & Company Matt Phipps told CNBC.

Phipps said people generally don’t want to inject frequently, so some patients may prefer monthly injections, such as Amgen’s MariTide, for conditions that may require long-term treatment.

But he noted that patient selection may also depend on whether the weight loss and side effects of Amgen’s drug end up being the same as those of existing weekly injections.

Amgen’s ongoing Phase 2 trial is exploring whether patients can take the drug less frequently than once a month.

The study showed that among the group of patients who received the highest dose, four out of eight patients dropped out before receiving their second injection due to minor gastrointestinal problems.But no other patients stopped taking the drug due to adverse events in any of the different dose groups, Amgen’s chief medical officer said. Paul Burton said at a conference earlier this month.

“Based on the phase 1 data, it’s too early to conclude that patients won’t tolerate the drug,” William Blair’s Phipps said.

Another part of Amgen’s Phase 2 trial will also examine weight loss after 52 weeks, which will provide a clearer picture of how long the drug is effective.